Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
'The painting are like poems instead of constructions; the colours unfold and expose each other, like a line of verse pushes the next into profile.' —Rudi Fuchs
Fascinated with modernism and its legacies throughout his career, Günther Förg developed a sustained investigation into the behaviour of colour and structure that is carried across from his early black and grey monochromes to the dynamic and variegated Spot Paintings. Belonging to this significant series, the present work is characterised by loose scrawls of pigment in staccato formations that vibrate across the vast expanse of the brilliant white ground. Deftly combining chromatic hues of bright cobalt and chartreuse with grounding tones of rusty reds, and chestnut browns, Förg frees colour from the confinements of line and shape. Endowing the piece with a remarkably airy yet architectural quality, Förg masterfully employs negative space to unify and establish harmonies between the disparate passages of colour. The effect of this on such a monumental scale is vibrantly energetic and atmospheric.
Spot Paintings:
'He found out that the spots became more and more abstract. He learned that they have a three-dimensional level on each spot. There are not just dots on a canvas. They are planned and precisely worked out on an empty field. The bigger the spot paintings, the more perfect the spots were sitting on the painting.' —Michael NeffCreated between 2007 and 2009, Förg’s Spot Paintings are among the final works that the artist created and represent the culmination of a career-defining exploration of the interactions between colour and form. Recording a loosening of the more rigid lattice frameworks employed in his earlier Grid and Window paintings, the works belonging to this cycle possess a raw immediacy, thanks to their looser, more gestural handling. At once structured and relaxed, the meticulous construction of the concentrated brushstrokes recalls the spatial organisation and commitment to questions of density, colour, light, and form demonstrated by Paul Cézanne’s late landscapes. The same fracturing and flattening of pictorial space is evident in the present work, and like Cézanne, Förg is able to convey a masterful balance of solidity and lightness with a seemingly effortless touch. His manipulation of light and deeply intuitive sense of colour also recalls the French Post-Impressionist masters, testament to his ‘serious and sustained (though never fully credulous) commitment to the twentieth century’s endlessly generative legacy’.i
Paul Cezanne, Montagne Sainte-Victoire, 1904-05 Bridgeman Images.
Jasper Johns, Map, 1963, the Museum of Modern Art, New York.Although many of Förg’s German contemporaries approached the art of the past with detached irony and cultivated a self-styled model of ‘bad painting’, the artist moved against these trends in his more thoughtful approach to compositional and stylistic questions. Moving against the dominant trend towards figurative painting during this period, Förg’s approach absorbed the lessons of American Abstract Expressionism, particularly the Colour Field experiments of Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Helen Frankenthaler. Pushing forward these artist’s investigations into the spatial relationships of colour, Untitled is invested with a striking vitality, the carefully arranged and animated forms appearing forging relationships and abstract dialogues across the vast canvas. The all-over gestural and calligraphic approach pioneered by Cy Twombly would also prove to be instructive for Förg, whose ‘atomistic, if aggregated, marks – also evoke writing’.ii Despite this rich tapestry of art-historical references, he developed an entirely unique language that is immediately recognisable. As Mikael Anderson has aptly described, ‘Förg’s Spot Paintings have looked at the entire history of art — from Philip Guston to Munch and Rothko — and transformed it into a singular expression, undoubtedly his own.’1
In its lyrical arrangement of colours and shapes into lively, legible compositions, the present work is an archetypal example of this pioneering artist’s novel form of materiality. Belonging to an important body of work examined more closely in a survey exhibition by Greene Naftali in 2012, Untitled is a lively example of Förg’s committed investigation into the act of painting itself, a career-long investigation that found its most joyous expression in the gestural fields of animated brushstrokes that make up his Spot Paintings.
Collector’s Digest
• As well as major solo shows at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , and the Fondation Beyeler, Günther Förg has also just opened a solo exhibition ‘Constellations of Colour’ with Galerie Max Hetzler in London.• Förg’s work now resides in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Tate Modern, London.
• Förg's works has been widely exhibited internationally. In 1992, he was represented at the documenta art fair, and in 1996, he won the Wolfgang Hahn Prize.
i Lloyd Wise, ‘Günther Förg: A Fragile Beauty’, Artforum, May 2018, online.
ii Suzanne Hudson, ‘Gunter Förg: Greene Naftali Gallery, Artforum March 2012, online.1 Mikael Anderson in Conversation with Kirsten MacDonald
Provenance
Estate of Günther Förg
Greene Naftali, New York
Private Collection, Italy
Acquired from the above by the present owner
18
Ohne Titel
signed and dated 'Förg 08' upper left
acrylic on canvas
174.9 x 200 cm (68 7/8 x 78 3/4 in.)
Painted in 2008, this work is recorded in the archive of Günther Förg as no. WVF 08.B.0034.
We thank Mr Michael Neff from the Estate of Günther Förg for the information he has kindly provided on this work.
Estimate
£350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
Sold for £615,400
Kate Bryan
Specialist, Head of Evening Sale
+44 7391 402741
kbryan@phillips.com
Olivia Thornton
Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Europe
+44 20 7318 4099
othornton@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
London Auction 15 October 2021
1
Serge Attukwei Clottey
Fashion icons
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 ‡
Sold for £340,200
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
2
Flora Yukhnovich
Tondo
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ♠
Sold for £529,200
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
3
Jadé Fadojutimi
Myths of Pleasure
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ♠
Sold for £1,172,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
4
Emily Mae Smith
Invisible Woman
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000
Sold for £930,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
5
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones
Pattern Makers
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000 ‡♠
Sold for £302,400
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
6
Issy Wood
Eggplant / car interior
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡♠
Sold for £327,600
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
7
Cinga Samson
Hliso Street IV
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡
Sold for £239,400
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
8
Sanya Kantarovsky
No Eyes
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £390,600
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
9
Shara Hughes
Night Picket
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £869,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
10
Reggie Burrows Hodges
For the Greater Good
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £441,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
11
Milton Avery
Bird by Wild Sea
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £207,900
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
12
Milton Avery
White Gull Resting
Estimate £70,000 - 100,000
Sold for £189,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
13
Lucas Arruda
Untitled
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
Sold for £352,800
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
14
Marlene Dumas
The Believer
Estimate £1,600,000 - 2,400,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,656,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
15
Titus Kaphar
Holy Absence II
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £315,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
16
Albert Oehlen
Retrospektiv
Estimate £1,100,000 - 1,500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,353,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
17
Sigmar Polke
Negerplastik
Estimate £2,000,000 - 3,000,000 ‡
Sold for £3,047,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
18
Günther Förg
Ohne Titel
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
Sold for £615,400
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
19
André Butzer
Chips und Pepsi und Medizin (Das Glück)
Estimate £70,000 - 90,000 ‡♠
Sold for £403,200
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
20
Katharina Grosse
Ohne Titel
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡♠
Sold for £277,200
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
21
Avery Singer
Untitled
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000
Sold for £403,200
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
22
Ed Ruscha
Doric
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £441,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
23
Yayoi Kusama
Silver Nets (EOKI)
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,837,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
24
Damien Hirst
N-(9-Acridinyl) Maleimide
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡♠
Sold for £736,400
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
25
Damien Hirst
Precious Moments
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £990,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
26
Gilbert & George
Day
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
Sold for £453,600
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
27
Chris Ofili
Triple Beam Dreamer
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,014,700
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
28
Max Ernst
Pyramid Lake
Estimate £550,000 - 750,000 ‡♠
Sold for £627,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
29
Max Ernst
Matin et soir
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £226,800
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
30
Max Ernst
Homme (Spezialpreis für die Kurzfilmtage in Oberhausen)
Estimate £65,000 - 85,000 ‡♠
Sold for £151,200
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
31
Max Ernst
Euklid
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £239,400
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
32
Jean Fautrier
I'm falling in Love
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000 ‡♠
Sold for £760,600
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
33
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva
Champs de Sainte-Claire
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
34
Sean Scully
Green Yellow Figure
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £567,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
35
George Condo
The Showgirl
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,232,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
36
Ed Ruscha
Spots
Estimate £180,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £252,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
37
David Hammons
Elephant Dung
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £226,800
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
38
Mimmo Rotella
Il Jazz
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡♠
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
39
This lot is no longer available.
40
Mickalene Thomas
Portrait of Lili in Black and White
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £252,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
41
Andy Warhol
Lenin
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £428,400
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
42
Richard Prince
My Life as a Weapon
Estimate £450,000 - 650,000 ‡
Sold for £453,600
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
43
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡♠
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
44
Cory Arcangel
Photoshop CS: 84 by 66 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient, "Blue, Red, Yellow" (turn reverse on), mousedown y= 1550 x=18400, mouseup y=300 x=150
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000
Sold for £233,100
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.